Monday Afternoon Punter: September 15th, 2008

Is USC that good or is OSU that bad?

I’ll admit, I didn’t get to watch the whole game; I was in & out while at a wedding so I was popping into the bar checking the score and was going to buckle down with the 3rd & 4th quarters if it was competitive. Lucky for me, it didn’t look like I missed much. So all I have to go off of is the stats. But they were UGLY for the OSU offense. The stats that Boeckman put up were disgraceful. He has not been a big game QB for Ohio State. And the stubbornness of Tressel is something that may help the Gophers, who visit Columbus in two weeks. He is stubborn to make the switch from the bad QB to the athletic one. He did it with Justin Zwick, which cost them the game against Vince Young and Texas in 2005. And he’s doing it here. And he’ll probably stay with Boeckman for few more weeks too. They have Troy this week and then the Gophers. And they’ll probably win both games. But they travel to Madison the week after, which will be another big game for Boeckman in which I won’t be surprised if he chokes again. I don’t think OSU is that bad, but I won’t be surprised if Penn State or Wisconsin beat them. The Gophers may get lucky and not get the Pryor show this year.

As for USC: I saw their speed first hand last year at the Rose Bowl, making Illinois look like they were stuck in the mud. They are impressive on offense with playmakers (they didn’t have out of this world stats though against OSU). Their defensive speed is what separates them though. They should run the table and be in Miami for the BCS title game.

Notre Dame & Michigan

I think that was a factor of “Michigan is just not that good” more than “Notre Dame is back.” You fumble that many times, which a new offense that you’re only putting up 16 points on Miami of Ohio in the first place, and you’re not going to beat anybody in college football. It all depends on how much they improve, but November 8 suddenly looks like a winnable game for the Gophers. The biggest problem Michigan has right now is that they don’t have a QB that can run the ball out of the option. Kind of makes the option a bit easier to defend.

Minnesota

I must admit, it was a rather boring game. The whole dome was kind of toned down; nobody seemed into it other than the Montana State players and the drunken Montana State fans in the Twin Cities area. The Gophers completely slept walked through the 1st & 4th quarter. Nobody just seemed into it. The bottom line is that they’re college kids, and in the case of Minnesota, very young college kids. They see a team lose 69-10 the previous week, they’re going to think they can just come in, go through the motions, and come out with an easy victory. I’m going to say that this was an exception more so than it being the rule. I think you’ll see a much crisper game & effort this week against Florida Atlantic.
Things that are concerning right now: no 2nd weapon in the passing game right now. Decker racking up yards & catches is all fine & good now, and he’ll probably have another big day next week against the Owls, but what happens the next week when Malcolm Jenkins is covering him? The problem I see it right now is Ralph Spry is a stiff, Kuzina is what he is, and the freshmen can’t do the other things yet in terms of run blocking, running precise disciplined routes, and making plays happen. This next week, I want to see Jack Simmons and another WR be able to step up and make some plays. Also, the offensive line has to get better if Weber is going to stay alive come Big Ten season. It is what it is and a win is a win.

Other quick hitters:
-If you put a gun to my head and asked me “Who’s playing in the BCS title game?” I’d say USC vs. Oklahoma.
-Georgia ain’t going through the SEC without a loss.
-Auburn 3, Mississippi State 2? Are you kidding me? I have a theory regarding this. It’s that offensive football takes smarter kids & defensive football is just athletes reacting with talent. Even Urban Meyer’s sophisticated offense usually ends up being Tebow jamming straight into the line with a QB Power or Percy Harvin taking the ball and trying to out run people. The defenses, meanwhile, are “just a bunch of angry Afro-American’s (copyright: Fisher DeBerry) running around and hitting people.” I’m just finally glad that I have a 3-2 score to put into my bibliography of sources to my theory.
-Wisconsin 13, Fresno State and the WAC officials 10.
-Typical Purdue game during the Joe Tiller era. Have a game won and you “let ‘em off the hook.” If it wasn’t for Drew Brees being able to take advantage of a completely blown coverage by an 8-4 Ohio State team that fired John Cooper about 10 weeks later, Purdue would have nothing to show for it.
-At least Syracuse has an excuse for losing by double digits this past weekend to Penn State. Northwestern & Akron though? And next year’s opener: Minnesota @ Syracuse. Could it be Tim Brewster versus Glen Mason?
-Iowa taking the intentional safety, which in turn covered the spread for all the Iowa State bettors. WOW!